A.Word.A.Day Archives
from http://wordsmith.org/awad
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Date: Mon Feb 2 00:04:17 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--finis
X-Bonus: You never know till you try to reach them how accessible men are; but you must approach each man by the right door. -Henry Ward Beecher, preacher and writer (1813-1887)
finis (FIN-is, fee-NEE) noun
The end; conclusion.
[From Middle English, from Latin finis.]
The Latin term "finis coronat opus" literally means "the end crowns the work".
"Marinov said ... 'That spelt finis to our hopes of a recovery.'"
Marinov Laments Referee's Decisions; The Times (Valletta, Malta);
Aug 14, 2003.
"But in hauling the Army vehicle clear of the flats, the tow truck bumped
a hornet's nest in nearby bushes. Angry occupants of the nest emerged and
stung the garage man and the soldier impartially. Finis was yet to be
written, however. Two yachtsmen in sailboat on the bay crowded the rail
so eagerly to watch the proceedings their craft overturned."
John Watters; Early Files; Barnstable Patriot (Massachusetts); Aug 23,
2003.
A recent story in the New York Times talked about a bunch of astute
entrepreneurs mining eBay for misspelled items. Buyers typically find
what they are looking for by searching the site. No wonder goods listed
as labtop computers, camras, and saphires didn't attract many. That's
where those enterprising bidders make their profit. They search the
auction site for a misspelling, buy the item in question, and then resell
it at its true value (with correct spelling, of course). Their success
proves that a misspelling can cost more than just a few points in a
school report.
On the other hand, many words have slightly variant spellings (often with
different shades of meaning) of everyday words. At first glance, they may
appear to be misspellings, but they're not. The five words selected this
week will add to your verbal arsenal, especially if you're playing Scrabble
or if your keyboard has a broken key.
-Anu Garg
(garg AT wordsmith.org)
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Date: Tue Feb 3 00:04:11 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mesne
X-Bonus: There is no one, no matter how wise he is, who has not in his youth said things or done things that are so unpleasant to recall in later life that he would expunge them entirely from his memory if that were possible. -Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)
mesne (meen) adjective
Intermediate; intervening.
[From Anglo-French, a variant of meen, from meien, from Latin medianus,
from medius (middle). Other words derived from the same root are median,
medieval, mediate, medium, intermediate, and mediocre.]
"In any case if the titles are in your favour, you can file the suit
for recovery of the licensed premises from the licensee in Civil Court
and also you can claim mesne profit from the date of termination of
license."
Divyakanth Mehta; Co-owners Can Give Premises to Family; The Economic
Times (New Delhi, India); Aug 10, 2003.
This week's theme: words with variant spellings.
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Date: Wed Feb 4 00:04:09 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rumbustious
X-Bonus: In solitude, when we are least alone. -Lord Byron, poet (1788-1824)
rumbustious (rum-BUS-chuhs) adjective
Wild; rambunctious.
[Origin uncertain. Probably both rumbustious and rambunctious are alterations
of robustious.]
"As yet another British tourist received a stiff fine yesterday for
indecent exposure at an infamous seaside resort on Rhodes, the island's
police authorities conferred with regional officials, hoteliers and the
British consul on coping with the hordes of rumbustious UK nationals
flocking to Greece this summer for booze-fueled holidays."
Rhodes Meeting on Hell-raisers; Kathimerini (Athens, Greece); Aug 22, 2003.
"Lord Salmon added that 'no criticism of a judgment, however vigorous,
can amount to contempt of court, providing it keeps within the limits
of reasonable courtesy and good faith. The decision here complained
of, however rumbustious, however wide of the mark, whether expressed
in good taste or in bad taste, seems to me to be well within those
limits'."
Stephen Alleyne; The Courts Are Not Beyond Reproach; Barbados Advocate
(Bridgetown, Barbados); Aug 20, 2003.
This week's theme: words with variant spellings.
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Date: Thu Feb 5 00:24:09 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--parlous
X-Bonus: An old miser kept a tame jackdaw, that used to steal pieces of money, and hide them in a hole, which a cat observing, asked, "Why he would hoard up those round shining things that he could make no use of?" "Why," said the jackdaw, "my master has a whole chestful, and makes no more use of them than I do." -Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745)
parlous (PAR-luhs) adjective
Perilous, dangerous, hazardous.
adverb
Very, greatly.
[From Middle English, variant of perilous.]
"During two years of peace so far, the UNF Government had been able to
develop the country's parlous economy from a negative growth rate to
over plus five per cent as well as create atmosphere of living free of
anxiety and fear."
Deshabandu Karu Jayasuriya; Independence Day Messages; Daily News
(Colombo, Sri Lanka); Feb 3, 2004.
"The unhealthy commercial dominance of South Korea by its big business
conglomerates, or chaebol, is legendary, as is the parlous state of some
chaebol finances."
South Korean finance: Junk Funk; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 5, 1998.
This week's theme: words with variant spellings.
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Date: Fri Feb 6 00:03:10 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--passel
X-Bonus: If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain. -Emile Herzog, writer (1885-1967)
passel (PAS-uhl) noun
A large group or a large number.
[Alteration of parcel.]
"The Nokia sponsored passel of metropolitan hacks arrive
at the spectacularly located Headlands hotel and gibber
excitedly."
Steven Wells; What I Did on My Nokia-Sponsored Surfing Holidays;
Guardian (London, UK); Aug 5, 2003.
"Confused by the lights of beachfront homes, a passel of newborn
loggerhead sea turtles were safely shepherded to the sea by
volunteers who had been baby-sitting the island's sole turtle
nest for a week."
Teresa Stepzinski; Turtles Emerge From Island's Lone Nest;
Augusta Chronicle (Georgia); Jul 29, 2003.
This week's theme: words with variant spellings.
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Date: Mon Feb 9 01:38:08 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schlock
X-Bonus: Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965)
schlock (shlok) adjective
Cheap, inferior, or shoddy.
noun
Something that is of inferior quality; junk.
[From Yiddish shlak (evil, nuisance).]
"Some may feel that celebrity boxing is a repugnant modern phenomenon,
a sign that a new wave of schlock culture is rolling over us as Jimmy
Ormond's midriff does his waistband. Nothing could be further from the
truth. US celebrities have a noble and vigorous tradition of hitting
one another."
Harry Pearson; Float Like a Butterdish, Sting Like a Beetroot;
The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 12, 2002.
"Media Watch presenter Paul Barry says far too much current affairs TV
is just schlock and garbage."
Sian Powell; Flight From Quality; The Australian (Sydney, Australia);
Nov 23, 2000.
Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, is reported to have said,
"I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my
horse." One wonders how he would have completed, "and Yiddish to..."
A language full of wit and charm, Yiddish embodies deep appreciation of
human behavior in all its colorful manifestations. This week we'll look at
a few Yiddishisms that have enriched the English language. Add these words
from Yiddish to bring a little tang to your conversation.
-Anu Garg
(garg AT wordsmith.org)
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Date: Tue Feb 10 00:23:15 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nudnik
X-Bonus: Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; Some blunders and absurdities crept in; Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
nudnik (NOOD-nik) noun
A boring pest.
[From Yiddish nudyen (to bore), from Polish nudzic + -nik (suffix
denoting a person associated with a particular quality, group, etc.]
"(John) Kerry's freefall is so pronounced ... that even Dana Milbank,
the Washington Post nudnik who specializes in needling President Bush
on the most picayune details, has tossed Kerry overboard."
Russ Smith; Kerry's Last Stand; New York Press; Dec 9, 2003.
"Alfred E. Neuman, the magazine's red-haired, freckle-faced, dentally
challenged mascot, is famous for saying, 'What, me worry?' Alfred,
the nudnik who has campaigned for U.S. president since 1956, should
be worried."
Tom Hawthorn; 'What, me advertise?': Mad Magazine Has a Legacy of
Tweaking the Establishment; Vancouver Sun (Canada); Apr 17, 2001.
This week's theme: words borrowed from Yiddish.
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Date: Wed Feb 11 00:08:08 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kvell
X-Bonus: In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects. -J. William Fulbright, US Senator (1905-1995)
kvell (kvel) verb intr.
To feel proud; to beam; to gloat.
[From Yiddish kveln, from German quellen (to gush, to well up).]
"However, Chet landed happily at NECN, where he is admired and coddled by
management ... who can't kvell enough about Chet."
Monica Collins; 'Dog Days' a Sunny Walk in the Park; Boston Herald;
Oct 20, 2002.
"His tone dared me not to celebrate, dared me not to kvell ..."
Mimi Harrison; Das Kapital; The Washington Post; Mar 12, 2000.
This week's theme: words borrowed from Yiddish.
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Date: Thu Feb 12 00:02:08 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schmaltz
X-Bonus: I envy people who drink - at least they know what to blame everything on. -Oscar Levant, composer (1906-1972)
schmaltz (shmahlts) noun, also schmalz
1. Exaggerated sentimentality, especially in art, music, movies, etc.
2. Fat or grease, especially chicken fat.
[From Yiddish shmalts (rendered fat, sentimentality), from Middle High
German smalz. Ultimately from the same Indo-European root (mel- : soft)
as words such as malt, melt, mollify, smelt, and enamel.]
"McCartney's piano playing is Vegas-lounge schmaltz."
Graham Reid; The Beatles: Let It Be ... Naked; New Zealand Herald
(Auckland, New Zealand); Dec 13, 2003.
"Don't worry, Miracle (on 34th Street) fans. The schmaltz has been left
intact. The new version isn't better than the original or even as good,
but it's awfully entertaining -- for those of us who like that sort of
thing."
Julie Salamon; Film: Survival in China; Wall Street Journal (New York);
Nov 17, 1994.
This week's theme: words borrowed from Yiddish.
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Date: Fri Feb 13 00:02:07 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tsuris
X-Bonus: So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy. -Roger Baldwin, civil rights advocate (1884-1981)
tsuris (TSOOR-is) noun, also, tsouris
Trouble; aggravation; woe.
[From Yiddish tsures, plural of tsure (trouble), from Hebrew sara (trouble).]
"Given the family's tsuris and tantrums, the wandering spirit and the
collision of time and all those loose ends, things don't really get
more dramatic than Saul's ineffectual slap in the face."
Alvin Klein; Zigzagging Through a Cover-Up; The New York Times;
Oct 26, 2003.
"If not for a little scheduling tsuris, we might have seen the ultimate
New York comedy: Woody Allen directing Barbra Streisand.
Spotlight Allen directing Streisand? There's a Laugh; The Toronto Star
(Canada); Jul 2, 1999.
This week's theme: words borrowed from Yiddish.
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Date: Mon Feb 16 00:02:16 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--orotund
X-Bonus: There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. -Dalai Lama
orotund (OR-uh-tund) adjective
1. Strong, clear, rich (as in voice or speech).
2. Pompous, bombastic.
[Contraction of Latin ore rotundo (with a round mouth), from ore, from os
(mouth) + rotundo, from rotundus (round), from Indo-European root ret-
(to run or roll). Other words derived from the same root are rodeo, roll,
rotary, rotate, rotund, roulette, and round.]
"No one today even tries to emulate the orotund, Latinate manner of
Dr Johnson or Burke, except perhaps as a comic affectation."
Edward Said; Living in Arabic; Al-Ahram Weekly (Cairo, Egypt);
Feb 12, 2004.
"Beaming his broad smile, Geoffrey Holder sets a few baby lettuce
leaves and a slice of tomato on a plate. 'You must take chances,
ad lib, im-pro-viiiisse,' he says, his orotund voice caressing the
last word."
Dana Jacobi; Harmony in the Kitchen; Vegetarian Times (Glen Allen,
Virginia); Jun 1, 2001.
It's human nature to find patterns in things - whether in the shape of
clouds, the arrangement of sand, a chain of events, or the digits of pi.
Or in a list of words.
Is there a pattern in this week's words? Your challenge is to recognize
the common theme in the words featured during these five days. If you
think you have the answer, send it to (garg AT wordsmith.org). Only one solution
per person, please. There are no prizes, but we'll tell you the answer at
the end of the week.
-Anu Garg
(garg AT wordsmith.org)
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Date: Tue Feb 17 00:12:12 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--draggle
X-Bonus: Never spend your money before you have it. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826)
draggle (DRAG-uhl) verb tr.
To make dirty by dragging over ground, mud, dirt, etc.
verb intr.
1. To become dirty by being dragged.
2. To trail or follow.
[Frequentative of drag.]
"The point is highspeed murder; you're supposed to kill, kill, kill - with
an arsenal including, but not limited to, shotguns, chain saws, and your
very own rocket launcher. With any luck, you get to draggle into the next
round with just enough health left to read your score."
Monica Wood; A Chamber of One's Own; Writer's Digest (Cincinnati, Ohio);
Sep 1, 1997.
"Other hallmarks of the new nerd chic: dresses that look a little too big,
dresses that draggle a few inches under coat hems ..."
Patricia McLaughlin; It's Dumb, it's Dowdy, it's the New Nerd Chic;
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Oct 26, 1995.
This week's theme: yours to discover.
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Date: Wed Feb 18 00:12:16 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--trunnel
X-Bonus: A bit beyond perception's reach / I sometimes believe I see / that life is two locked boxes / each containing the other's key. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996)
trunnel (TRUN-l) noun
Treenail, a wooden peg that swells when wet, used for fastening timbers,
especially in shipbuilding.
[Variant of treenail.]
"Speak to Milton Graton -- the world's preeminent covered-bridge
restorer -- and you speak to a surgeon with broadax, a genius
of trunnels, a man who says 'To hell with contracts; I work by
handshake.'"
Mark Muro; Bridge Builder Has Broadax, Will Travel; The Boston Globe;
Feb 8, 1987.
"Jim Wagner, who describes himself as 'a boat guy' from Lancaster, Pa.,
has been helping with the project since the first frames went into place.
He says he must have milled thousands of trunnels, the wooden nails that
hold the deck planks in place."
Joel McCord; Replica Cargo Ship Readied For Launch; The Sun (Baltimore,
Maryland); Mar 23, 2001.
This week's theme: yours to discover.
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Date: Thu Feb 19 00:08:10 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pinnate
X-Bonus: To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE)
pinnate (PIN-ayt) adjective
Resembling a feather, having similar parts arranged on opposite sides
of a common axis.
[From Latin pinnatus (feathered), from pinna (feather), ultimately from
Indo-European root pet- (to rush, fly). Other words from this root are
pin, impetus, and pinnacle.]
"There are a number of characteristics that a critical person can use to
tell the difference between the Neem tree and Melia. Neem has leaf blades
that emerge directly from a main stalk which are referred to as compound
pinnate leaves."
Ebenezer Bifubyeka; Do You Know the Real Neem Tree?; New Vision (Kampala,
Uganda); Apr 2, 2002.
"If you like that purple pinnate foliage outdoors, think about the
honey-locust tree Gleditsia triacanthos 'Rubylace'."
Stephen Anderton; The Times Gardener; The Times (London, UK); Dec 7, 2002.
This week's theme: yours to discover.
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Date: Fri Feb 20 00:02:08 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lability
X-Bonus: Life is like a ten-speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use. -Charles Schulz, cartoonist (1922-2000)
lability (luh-BIL-i-tee) noun
Susceptibility to change, lapse, error or instability.
[Via French/Middle English from Late Latin labilis (prone to slip),
from labi (to slip). Other words from the same root are avalanche,
lapse, and lava.]
"Water, that is, can itself be thought of as an element without qualities,
and in its lability it is a strikingly appropriate subject for Ulrich's
sympathetic attention. Always itself yet always adaptable to multiple
ways of manifesting itself ..."
Michael Andre Bernstein; The Man Without Qualities; The New Republic
(Washington, DC); May 29, 1995.
"Most of us have heroes, I guess. Mine is Lance Armstrong, who beat
testicular cancer to become the greatest cyclist in the world. Watching
him pedalling through the fields of pain in the Tour de France, I was
struck by the absence of any sign of emotional lability."
David Beresford; Education: Operation Countdown; The Guardian (London,
UK); Jul 23, 2002.
This week's theme: yours to discover.
In case you missed some of this week's words, they were orotund, draggle,
trunnel, pinnate, and lability. The challenge was to find a common pattern
among them. If you can spot it, email (garg AT wordsmith.org).
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Date: Mon Feb 23 00:02:08 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--potvaliant
X-Bonus: Each man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well -- he has changed his market-cart into a chariot of the sun. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
potvaliant (POT-val-iant) adjective, also pot-valiant
Showing courage under the influence of drink.
Such courage is also known as Dutch courage.
[From pot (a drinking vessel) + valiant (courageous).]
"Russian generals and Russia's unstable, potvaliant president are
turning Chechen children into bleeding carcasses, food for stray
dogs."
Jeff Jacoby; Chechnya: the Fruits of US Silence; Boston Globe;
Jan 19, 1995.
"One night when I was potvaliant, I wagered everything on the turn."
Newport Daily News (Rhode Island); Aug 27, 1957.
Oscar Wilde once said, "It is absurd to divide people into good and
bad. People are either charming or tedious." This week we offer five
words you can safely use to describe your co-workers, associates, and
others. Try these elegantly veiled insults without fear of offending.
Just make sure your targets are not already AWAD subscribers.
-Anu Garg
(garg AT wordsmith.org)
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Date: Tue Feb 24 00:02:09 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--excerebrose
X-Bonus: In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)
excerebrose (eks-SER-ee-bros) adjective
Brainless.
[From Latin ex- (out of) + cerebrum (brain).]
"(Dvija Michael) Bertish, in a vituperative March letter that virtually
demands the presence of an unabridged dictionary, complained that 'The
excerebrose followers of Pastor White, many of whom are convicted
felons...'"
Scott Hewitt; 'Spiritual Warfare' in Rosemere; The Columbian (Vancouver,
Washington); May 18, 2003.
This week's theme: words for insults.
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Date: Wed Feb 25 00:02:10 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--blunderbuss
X-Bonus: Even a lie is a psychic fact. -Carl Jung, psychiatrist (1875-1961)
blunderbuss (BLUN-duhr-bus) noun
1. A short, wide-mouthed gun used to scatter shots at close range.
2. A clumsy, blundering person.
adjective
Clumsy, blundering.
[Alteration of Dutch donderbus, from donder (thunder) + bus (gun, tube).
The gun wasn't known for its precise shot. Its scattershot effect resulted
in its name being altered from donderbus to blunderbuss. It wasn't long
before the word was applied to insensitive, blundering persons.]
"Those blunderbuss editors at Webster's New World College Dictionary
(you know, the third edition), had it coming."
Mark Story; Resilient Braves Worthy of Own Lexicon; Herald-Leader
(Lexington, Kentucky); Jul 25, 2003.
"Buchanan must grapple not only with the president's well-tuned political
machine but with the weakness of his own message and the blunderbuss way
he conveys it."
Matthew Cooper and Thom Geier; Waning Cry from the Right; U.S.News &
World Report (Washington, DC); Feb 17, 1992.
This week's theme: words for insults.
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Date: Thu Feb 26 00:02:09 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--benighted
X-Bonus: What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul. -Jewish proverb
benighted (bi-NYT-id) adjective
1. Intellectually, morally, or socially ignorant; unenlightened.
2. Overtaken by night or darkness.
[From be- + night + -ed.]
"It will come as a surprise to many that consumption is not now nor was
it ever the driving force in the U.S. or any other economy. The benighted
among us on this matter include most politicians, TV talking heads and a
surprising number of economists."
Terrorism, Consumption and Economic Recovery; The Korea Times (Seoul,
South Korea); Sep 30, 2001.
"That moment, across the long benighted mind of Captain Delano, a flash
of revelation swept ..."
Herman Melville; Benito Cereno; 1856.
This week's theme: words for insults.
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Date: Fri Feb 27 00:02:13 EST 2004
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--zoophyte
X-Bonus: To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy. -Hippocrates, physician (460-c.377 BCE)
zoophyte (ZO-uh-fyt) noun
An animal (such as sponge, coral, sea anemone, etc.) resembling a plant.
[These invertebrate animals are attached to a surface and have a branched
structure, hence zoophyte, literally animal plant, from Modern Latin
zoophyton, from Greek zoophyton, from zoo- (animal) + phyton (plant).]
"Did you know that sponges were zoophytes, or that they had domestic
lives as complicated as any soap opera character's?"
Philip Herter; Foreign Correspondence Series; St. Petersburg Times
(Florida); Jun 9, 2002.
This week's theme: words for insults.